Actor-singer-playwright Francois
Clemmons, who is best known for playing Officer Clemmons on Mister
Rogers' Neighborhood, says Fred Rogers told him not to come out
gay.
In his upcoming memoir, Officer
Clemmons: A Memoir, Clemmons writes about the day Rogers called
him into his office to discuss his sexuality.
“Franc, you have talents and gifts
that set you apart and above the crowd,” Rogers said. “Someone
has informed us that you were seen at the local gay bar downtown.
Now, I want you to know, Franc, that if you’re gay, it doesn’t
matter to me at all. Whatever you say and do is fine with me, but if
you’re going to be on the show as an important member of the
Neighborhood, you can’t be out as gay.”
Clemmons told People that he
began to cry.
“I could have his friendship and
fatherly love and relationship forever,” he
said. “But I could have the job only if I stayed in the
closet.”
“I was destroyed. The man who was
killing me had also saved me. He was my executioner and deliverer.”
Rogers encouraged Clemmons to marry a
woman. “People do make some compromises in life,” Rogers is
quoted as saying.
Clemmons told People that he
decided to marry his wife by the time he left Rogers' office. The
marriage ended in divorce in 1974 and Clemmons began living openly as
a gay man.
“Lord have mercy, yes, I forgive
him,” he said of Rogers. “More than that, I understand. I relied
on the fact that this was his dream. He had worked so hard for it. I
knew Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was his whole life.”
Officer Clemmons: A Memoir arrives
May 5.